MO: Jury acquits father-in-law in fatal shooting: "A McDonald County jury decided Thursday that James Patterson acted in self-defense when he shot and killed his son-in-law, Marty Reece, in Noel more than two years ago. Jurors deliberated less than three hours before acquitting Patterson, 51. While neither of the Pattersons took the witness stand in their own defense, their attorney, Duane Cooper, argued that his clients were defending their daughter who had been beaten up by Reece and that they never introduced the gun into the dispute until Reece was getting the better of them and they were taking a beating. Reece and Jindy Patterson, who had a son in common, were undergoing a divorce and not living together at the time. Court records showed that she had taken out a protection order against him in April of that year and the order was still in effect the night of the domestic assault and shooting. Trial testimony established that Reece became considerably more intoxicated than Patterson. The medical examiner determined he died with a blood-alcohol content almost twice the legal threshold for driving in Missouri."


WA: homeowner shoots burglar with shotgun: "Seattle police say that a 66-year-old South Seattle homeowner shot and wounded a burglar this morning. Police were called to a home in the 5200 block of Rainier Avenue South, in Columbia City, just after 1 a.m. on a report of a shooting. Police also were notified by King County Metro that there was a passenger with what appeared to be a gunshot wound had boarded a bus, said police spokesman Mark Jamieson. Officers went to Rainier Avenue South and South Andover Street and found the 37-year-old alleged burglar. He has a wound on his left arm apparently caused by a “shotgun pellet,” Jamieson said. Police spoke with the homeowner who said he was awakened sometime after midnight to a banging sound and thought it might be a burglar. The homeowner grabbed a shotgun he had in the bedroom and walked toward the main part of the house. The front door was open and a stranger was there holding something. The homeowner ordered the stranger to lie down on the floor, police said. When the burglar did not comply, the homeowner fired his shotgun once."


OH: Clerk indicted for killing man in robbery: "An employee of a North Toledo convenience store who shot and killed a man attempting to rob him was indicted by a Lucas County grand jury Thursday on a charge of voluntary manslaughter. Bandar Abu-Karsh, 28, of Moore Street, was charged with the shooting death of Lamar Allen, 25, who died Nov. 21 as the result of multiple gunshot wounds. Allen was with another man when they entered the Express Carryout on Mulberry Street and attempted to rob it. If convicted of the charge, Mr. Abu-Karsh faces up to 11 years in prison. A summons will be issued for him to appear in court for an arraignment, which has not yet been set. John Weglian, chief of the special units division of the prosecutor’s office, said that the issue the grand jury had to consider was whether self defense applied to Mr. Abu-Karsh’s actions throughout the entire incident."


NH: Disgraceful charges dropped: "A New Hampshire District Attorney has dropped a felony charge against 61-year-old Dennis Fleming bringing an end to a case that sparked national outrage. Last Saturday, the great-grandfather fired a warning shot into the ground to get the attention of an accused burglar. Under the reckless conduct felony charge leveled against him, Fleming faced the same amount of time in jail as the suspected burglar, three and a half to seven years. "I'll tell you, I didn't know how much stress I was under until I heard they dropped the charges this morning, and it's just melting away," Fleming told FOX 25's Sharman Sacchetti. Fleming calls it a "tremendous relief." Over the weekend, Farmington Police charged Fleming with reckless conduct for firing a warning shot into the ground several feet away from both men. He says he was trying to stop a burglar he caught diving head first out of his neighbor's window."